The necessity for Gauteng to have a third international airport and the envisaged improvements at Wonderboom Airport to fulfill this role

Abstract

Paper presented at the 23rd Annual Southern African Transport Conference 12 - 15 July 2004 "Getting recognition for the importance of transport", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. Wonderboom Airport is owned and managed by the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. The Airport has been established in 1939, and operated as an international Airport until 31st December 1999. From the 1st January 2000, National Government decided to reduce the number of points of entry into South Africa, and only 10 airports retained their international designation. Two of these airports are in Gauteng and one in each of the other eight provinces. Wonderboom Airport, Rand Airport and Grand Central Airport lost their status. The White Paper on National Policy on Airports and Airspace Management specifies criteria, which should be used to determine which airports could be named as designated airports as well as the conditions with which these nominated airports must comply before they can start operating as designated international airports. This paper gives a brief outline why Gauteng should have a third international airport, discusses the criteria for airports to be designated and points out why Wonderboom Airport is indeed the superior choice to be designated as a third international airport. The paper concludes with Wonderboom Airport’s development plan, which illustrates Council’s endeavours to upgrade and develop Wonderboom Airport to supplement the services available at Johannesburg International Airport and Lanseria International Airport.